Snow is warm
by To think To link To sing
Summary: They were drawn together through a strange magnetism of Suzumiya Haruhi.Kyon and Nagato Yuki, in both perspectives, observe the bizzare yet fantastic world of the creation of Suzumiya Haruhi. Series of stories, each taking on different themes.
1. Human

_Are you normal?_

_Cherry blossom petals covered the sky._

Programmed functions commenced.

It was spring in the planet Earth, the third planet of the Solar system in the XX-79A21 galaxy. The temperature was 21 degrees Celsius, an average temperature for the date. The movement of the air molecules shows little difference from the data I received earlier. The infiltration of the school was not difficult, and soon, the observation of Suzumiya Haruhi will begin.

Until then, it would be imperative that I comprehend the every minute detail of the organic life forms, the brilliant hope for the observation of free evolution. The collection of plant fiber lay beside me, Ah. This was the method that human beings use to accumulate information-I recall, books?

I picked one up and began deciphering the characters written on the pages. The content, surprisingly, was about a fictional recording of the universe. It seemed that human beings believed that they are the standard beings in the universe, and all intelligent life should emulate their features. Interesting.

Even though "books" were slower and less efficient than the standard procedure of attaining information, the content of the book was quite interesting. As I was about to flip another page, the door of the Literary club was burst open by an energetic student–the subject of observation, Suzumiya Haruhi.

"Oh, sorry." She blurted out, seeing myself. She seemed to be pondering on something. It was unexpected that the subject herself would contact me this quickly. The probability was incredibly low, but there was a chance that the amazing abilities of Suzumiya Haruhi impelled herself subconsciously to meet me. Perhaps other actions would be necessary. I would contact Asakura Ryoko later.

"Er, can I ask you something?"

"Yes" It was interesting to hear information passed on through sound waves. My voice was unfamiliar to myself.

"Well, can I borrow this room for my brigade? I mean, you can join, too. You won't have to do anything, my subordinates can take care of-"

"Yes."

"Ah." The room was silent for a moment, and I recommenced on my reading. The girl disappeared for a moment, and then returned with a human.

This was my first meeting with a human, apart from Suzumiya Haruhi, who possessed abnormal abilities, thus inappropriate to be recognized as a normal human being. I glanced at him briefly.

Two eyes for receiving light, four limbs for movement, and a mouth and a nose that was cringing to express his emotions. Emotions –a rather unfamiliar term.

The girl stood on the doorway, and pronounced, "From now on, I proclaim that this room would be our clubroom!"

"Eh?" The boy questioned the girl. How interesting. It seemed that humans can communicate also through mere noise, not only a language.

"What about that girl?" He asked.

"She was okay about it." The girl replied coolly. I could feel the boy observing me. It would be a universal reaction to introduce myself at this moment, wouldn't it?

"Nagato Yuki." I repeated the name given to me by the Integrated Data Entity. After what would be judged as an appropriate interval, I recommenced my reading.

The next day, the human returned to the room He gazed at my book.

"What are you reading?"

Feeling no need to reply, I showed him the book cover. After gazing unfocusedly at the letters, he said, "Do you like it?"

"Unique," I replied. Why would the human be interested in my reading? He kept asking what I believed was unnecessary questions, and I replied automatically. Soon, Suzumiya entered the room with another girl –

How interesting. The girl was from a different time parallel. There seemed to be a strange magnetism surrounding Suzumiya Haruhi. Even though I was informed that Asahina Mikuru was in the school to observe Suzumiya Haruhi, I did not expect to encounter her in such manner.

Perhaps contacting the Integrated Data Entity would be wise at this point. As the three was discussing over the name of the club, oh, let me rephrase that. As one was dictating the club's name and the other two was quailing under her aura, I observed the boy.

He was the only normal human being in the room. Though at first I premised that he had some special abilities, he proved to be as mundane as his classmates.

_Human: noun. Any man or woman or child of the species Homo Sapiens_

He was scowling at Suzumiya, as if tired by her antics. The boy was the representative of the human race, the only organic intelligence in this galaxy.

I noticed Nagato staring at me. The quiet girl stopped reading her book and was scrutinizing me, her head tilted. Hmm. I wonder what she would look like without her glasses. I was slowly getting uncomfortable under her gaze. Why am I so interesting to her?

He was the first ordinary human being that I encountered. Why his face became redder, I can not explain. I returned my gaze to my book.

The sound of Kyon sighing in relief escaped outside the open window, past the cherry blossoms covering the sky, past the pink storm to the azure sky.


	2. Fearful

_When the cold world spills_

_Trespassed the limits God endowed._

Kyon

The clubroom was warm. I whistled as I entered the room full of other members of the SOS brigade. Asahina-san once again gave true delight and happiness to my eyes with her rather inappropriate Santa costume. Nagato was sitting at the corner of the room, wearing a lopsided Santa hat. I wonder what she is reading?

The usual routine began, except that Haruhi was heatedly starting to debate on whether to serve casserole for the Christmas party. Well, there was no doubt that she would decide it on her own.

Oblivious to Haruhi's conversation, I gazed around the room, stopping on Nagato. Perhaps it was my mistake, but Nagato seemed rather paler than before, if that is possible. After spending almost a year in her presence, I became quite skilled at noticing the subtle changes of the interface. Her pace of reading seemed slower than before, and she seemed more alienated from the brigade. Or maybe not.

It seemed Nagato noticed my furtive glance, because for a moment, our eyes met. I hurriedly looked away, and turned back to Haruhi.

Crabs were not evolved to be eaten by you, Haruhi. Even though you have incredible abilities, you can not change every crab in the world, can you? I dearly hope not.

Nagato

I was cold. The temperature of the classroom was 26 degrees Celsius, appropriate for the human body, buy an unusual chill pervaded me. I stoppd my reading, and viewed the clubroom. Suzumiya Haruhi, as always, was demonstrating her knack for ignoring people's opinions, Koizumi was smiling, listening to her statements, and Kyon was listening half heartedly to her speech.

A sudden thought entered my mind.

"What am I to this group?"

I immediately refused to think about the question. The group was unimportant. My sole reason for existence is to observe and report Suzumiya Haruhi, nothing else.

After listening to the plans that Suzumiya Haruhi had for the winter vacation, the SOS brigade finally dispersed. I was returning to my apartment. Fatigue clouded my senses, again. The sense pervaded me more frequently nowadays.

I closed my eyes, my feet shuffling on their own accord. All the information was overwhelming me, the subtle differences of the human race. The sense was difficult to explain in words, and there would be too much misunderstandings even if I did manage. The human word for this sense was loneliness, I believe?

I opened my eyes suddenly. That I was prone to these emotions was unacceptable. Unacceptable, unacceptable, unaccepta-error. My head was jerked backwards, and I stood on the sidewalk, rearranging my collection of information.

As I slowly regained my consciousness, my gaze was bleared. The orange light from the street lights were swirling, swaying, and blinking erratically. I cleared my eyes. The scene of Kyon and Suzumiya Haruhi interacting with each other entered my mind.

They seemed to understand each other. No, all the humans excpt myself shared a bond, an alien understanding that I failed to capture. The sense of alienation had become larger than I expected.

No object in the world could share my uncertainty now. Other humanoid interfaces were oblivious to my troubles, for I had not spoke about it.

My legs swayed, and I trembled. The urge to fall down on the street to rest, to cleanse myself from these tormenting troubles and return to school tomorrow was strong, yet I struggled to stand still. A humanoid interface was not to succumb to this confusion, for it was against the will of the Integrated Data Entity.

The dark alleys twisted into a road painfully familiar, the road to my apartment. Only Kyon, the human, had ever accompanied me to this road, and even that was because of my request.

I was alone.

I clutched the concrete wall beside me. The circulation of my body became erratically fast, and I struggled to regain my balance. What was this symptom?

_Anger: noun. A feeling of displeasure and hostility that a person has because of being injured, mistreated, or opposed._

But I am not a person. There was no reason behind this emotion. Additionally, it did not explain the sinking, stinging pain within me. This emotion was illogical, irrational, and painful. The ground was cold, frigid. Another rush of dizziness swallowed me, and I stood rooted to the spot.

Kyon

I shuffled in my sleep. The room had gotten unnaturally cold. Was the window opened? I stared at the window, which was closed completely. The trees outside was swaying in an alarming manner.

Nagato

It was in the scope of my abilities to distort time and space enough to form a new world. I wanted to be a normal student in a school without Suzumiya Haruhi, experiencing the human world as a normal human.

But, but…… The last remnants of logic within the flood of unfamiliar emotions tugged at me. It would be necessary to leave a possible way to return the world to what it was.

I would leave the decision to Kyon. Not because the Integrated Data Entity assigned this particular human to decide the better world. It was my free will.

I chose this human being according to my free will.

The book.

How we first met, when we first met.

All I wanted to remember in my new self was the memories in the library with the human.

With Kyon.

The alley around me was rotating crazily, and I slowly stretched my arms out, clutching at the open space.

The world splashed threateningly, and purple lights were swaying in a fearful motion.

_Fearful: adjective. Feeling fear, apprehension, dread, or solicitude._

_Solicitude._

And I touched the surface with trembling fingers………


	3. Love

_Snow is warm_

_If I become an autumn leaf, I'll grasp the hazel branches strong._

Kyon

Sleet splattered on the windows. Even the stove that I had brought to the room could not withstand the iciness.

It was July. Even though we believed that Haruhi's incessant complaints about the heat caused the phenomenon, we were nonetheless baffled how the weather changed dramatically after Haruhi muttered "I hate this heat."

Perhaps God favored this particular teenager, or the teenager is the God, as Koizumi believed, but I could not care less. My thoughts were focused on the sleet covered hill on my way home. As I was wrestling on how to persuade Haruhi, who was humming in delight, to suddenly crave the summer warmth again, I felt that something was missing.

The room was silent except Haruhi's humming. The sporadic rustling of paper could not be heard. I glanced at Nagato. She was leaning on the glass, her eyes blankly staring outside.

The street lights were on, casting a hazy orange glaze outside.

Nagato

The circulation of the moisture and Suzumiya Haruhi's incredible information capabilities had caused this phenomenon; sleet in July. According to a meteorology book, these abnormal conditions were caused when vast shifts in the circulation of currents occur.

The outside had become dark enough for me to view my reflection. Myself—a humanoid interface. I was designed by the Integrated Data Entity. I found myself echoing the words I spoke to the human.

Do human beings register themselves as self controlled entities, while they are controlled by the mass media, and artificial data? They are in the same situation as I am, rigidly controlled by a stronger, more influential data.

I found myself asking questions, an abnormal behavior, to be regulated by the Integrated Data Entity. Perhaps I am being infected by the human virus, the one Asakura Ryoko was infected, the viral being that caused her irresponsible behavior.

It had already been more than a year since I lost her.

It had already been half a year since Kyon decided to return to this world, rather than the artificial world that I created.

My forehead was unnaturally hot, and I leaned on the sleet covered window. The reflections of the SOS brigade wavered as I closed my eyes. The four human beings conceived themselves as free………

Is this frustration?

Kyon

I once again marveled at Haruhi's athletic abilities as she was balancing herself on the hands on the sleet while walking downhill. Koizumi, as always, wore an enigmatic smile. "Incredible as always, Suzumiya-san."

Asahina-san, to my extreme disappointment and grief, had to head home earlier. As Koizumi and I were struggling through the slippery sidewalk, Nagato was walking past us, her small foot trekking the ice with ease.

"How are you doing that?" I whispered to her. She glanced at me before replying. Her voice was barely audible against the wind.

"I controlled the friction of the ice to a manageable degree, and adjusted the gravity within my range to hold me more firmly to the ground. The molecular formation of the ice can easily be changed into a tighter one."

"I see," I lied. We walked without talking, thankful that the gusts were swallowing up Haruhi's yells and challenges. How can she still walk that way? Did her hands consist of metal?

Nagato's cheeks were slightly red, and incredible difference from her usually pale features. The weather was frigid. Her purple eyes were staring at the crosswalk ahead. She did not wear her glasses since last year.

"You are lucky." I whispered.

"Why?" Nagato replied. I jumped. The usually irresponsive girl readily answered my whisper, as if listening to my thoughts. I would not put that past her, either.

"We-well, you can walk through the sleet easily. I envy your skills. You must know facts, incredible facts far beyond my limits."

She stopped walking. As Haruhi glared at us with suspicion, Koizumi winked at me, and dragged the protesting Haruhi ahead. Thank you, Koizumi. Remind me to buy you some coffee later.

"Suzumiya-san, perhaps a nice hot fish paste would be appropriate for this weather?" Their conversation was soon silenced by the wind.

"I envy you."

I stared at Nagato, thinking that I misheard her. The Nagato, feeling envious? She shook her head in frustration. I have never seen her express herself as definitely.

"This-error. I am suffering from this error. The Integrated Data Entity could not answer this problem. They classified it as human sickness. I am feeling what you classify as emotions."

"And why do you envy me?"

"You are free." She gazed up at me. Sleet splashed on her pale face, slowly dripping down.

Why? How can the humanoid who can distort time, communicate with aliens, and control space call me, a human, free? Nagato's face remained impassive.

"Do you know who created you" She asked. I blinked at the sudden question.

"I guess my parents created me. I suppose so."

"I was created by the entity. The entity controls my actions, my every words, and when I should disappear from this planet, I feel, no, the error forces me to judge the entity's actions as restricting. I am more attached to this world than I expected. The world, humans, books, and you."

Why is she naming her emotions as errors? She looked paler than when I saw her in her costume. Wait. Did she confess her emotions to me?

She continued on. "Ever since I distorted the world because of my errors, the entity decided to abolish me. They would come for me in time."

The sleet was slowly stopping, and the sky became whiter. I found myself gripping Nagato's wrists, as I had done two months ago in my hospital room. The same wrists that defended me from Asakura Ryoko's attacks, the same wrist that threw the baseball at an incredible speed, and the same wrist that lightly gripped my wrists when I was about to leave her house. She was human on the last example. I wished that I could see her smile.

First, I wanted to see her without her glasses. Now, I wanted to see her smile. Was it too much for the humanoid interface? I repeated my words again, even though I was aware that since she was a humanoid interface, she would have naturally memorized my words back then.

"I would not let them take you away."

She blinked at me. I repeated the words because I considered her as a human, not a humanoid interface who memorized the words instantly. She was a human. Someone who feels boredom from the endlessly repeating summer vacation, someone who has zeal for computers, and someone who feels responsibility, promising that she would never let any humanoid interface kill me. Someone who can feel emotions. Even though she classifies them as errors, that could be slowly changed.

I will changeher.

She did not reply "Thank you" emotionlessly like last time, but stood silently, gazing up at me with her eyes widened. Good.

Snow started to fall from the white sky, covering the surrounding ice. It was snowing in July. Nagato looked up into the sky.

"Snow…………" She whispered

"Yuki." I whispered. "Snow is warm."

They floated from the sky, slow and warm compared to the sleet.

"I do not comprehend your statement." Nagato Yuki said. I gripped her hands more tightly. Her hands were warm.

"Yuki, see? Snow is warm."

I found myself automatically repeating "I do not comprehend your statement", yet I withheld the statement. The errors inside me were tingling warmly. Human sickness………… I gazed at the student, the human being, Kyon.

_Love: noun. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness._

Is that what my error is?

She is a person. I will make her a person.

I felt the warm, tingling snow touching my forehead. My name is Yuki, snow.

It was a white July.

Yuki means snow in Japanese.

This is the end of the three chapter long story. Reviews are welcome, for they will be considered in my next fan fiction. Thank you for reading.


	4. Disappearance, chapter 1

_It was gray. _

_Flecks of white, glaring, stinging—too white—snow were drifting around the grayness. They seemed to glow, like shattered pieces of glass in a sunset, glowing white, piling around the ground and the narrow shoulders of the girl._

_Yet they did not melt. They kept on piling, soon forming layers and layers of white, frigid armor around the girl as cold—colder—than the snow around her._

_She was standing barefooted in the snow. _

_I could only see her back._

_Slowly, she turned to face me, her expressionless, white countenance staring blankly at me. Her purple hair hovered in the air, streaks of color within the grayness. I could see my reflection in her violet pupils. _

_And she whispered._

_Her voice, as silent as the snow piling around us, did not reach my ears._

_"What?"_

_My voice was hoarse._

_Her lips were moving silently, yet her eyes stared blankly into mine. Could she read my thoughts? Our eyes met silently, while she was whispering a delicate string of words. Words that I could not comprehend. Words that I could not hear. What words?_

_"Nagato, I—"_

_She did not listen to my sentence, but looked up instead. I mimicked her motion._

_The gray heavens were rotating silently, and snow was circling us. Both of us were silent, observing the frozen, timeless wonder, drifting and piling around us._

_"Naga—"_

"—to."

I was staring breathlessly at my clock, my bed in disarray. Sweat trickled down from my temples. It was six in the morning, and the late winter sun had not risen yet. I sighed and scratched my head, which was aching.

I had been dreaming the same dream for a week now. Finally, my patience was beginning to fray. I hated myself or whoever that was pushing me through the tedium of dreaming the same thing repeatedly for a week.

What would Mr. Freud say?

A repressed desire of some sort? A manifestation of a battle between rationality and irrationality? Unfortunately, I had not studied enough psychology—and I was not willing to—to analyze my own dream.

Should I merely forget about it?

Never. From my experiences with Suzumiya Haruhi last year, I have learned that any dreams concerning that of any members of the SOS brigade were not to be ignored. There was a higher likelihood that the reoccurring dream had more significance than a mere creation of my subconscious.

But then again, what would it be warning me? What message was it trying to send? Who was sending this dream anyway?

"Well, well." I sighed. I, as always, procrastinated on the issue.

It was incredibly clear outside, a remarkable contrast between that of my dream. Such a lovely, crisp, November weekend it was……perfect, in fact, to spend the day outside, accompanied, perhaps, by Asahina-san.

However, Haruhi did not think so.

She chose the clearest day of November as the day to 'upgrade' the clubroom. Ignoring our complaints—well my complaints, since the rest did not object—Haruhi summoned us to the clubroom on a weekend day.

"Hey, stupid Kyon! Move! You're being an obstacle!" Haruhi yelled, pulling me out of my reverie.

"Huh? Aargh!" I screamed.

A pile of books came tumbling down on my head.

I was momentarily paralyzed. A swirl of dust spiraled down. Works of Goethe, Milton, and Grisham were all beautiful and entertaining when read, but when they were on your body, their thickness becomes a more important issue than their content.

I dusted my uniform, and slowly sat up. I was staring up into the eyes of Nagato.

"Ah, sorry, Nagato."

"………"

"Hey, Kyon! What are you doing! Help Yuki, now!"

"It is unnecessary," Nagato curtly whispered, and effortlessly lifted up the whole pile. She silently stacked them on a new bookshelf that Haruhi 'borrowed' from the calligraphy club.

"Mikuru! This corner needs more dusting!"

"Ah! Yes! Right away!" the upperclassman dashed to the pointed spot.

"Kyon! Koizumi! Go buy some food for us!"

"Yes, of course." Before I could retort that it was us that have moved the bookshelves, desks, and other furniture around the clubroom and thus need some rest, Koizumi replied brightly. In retrospect, he always complied to Haruhi's orders, no matter how incredible they seem to be.

"Well, that is what she wants." Koizumi grinned as we were walking to a nearby fast-food restaurant.

"Then why not make it obvious? Crawl on your knees and say "yes, Suzumiya-sama" every time!" I murmured, disgruntled.

"If I make it obvious, she would become distrustful, right? I have to maintain this at a believable level. And I am doing well, I dare to say. The lack of closed spaces for the past few weeks is the proof."

"Anyway," he glanced quizzically at me. "You seem to be troubled today. Is anything wrong?"

"What do you mean?" It was rather uncomfortable having one's inner thoughts interpreted.

"I dare guess that the problem has something to do with the brigade?"

To be frank, there was nothing particularly 'wrong' about the current status of the SOS brigade—that was not saying much, though, considering that it was an abnormal group from the beginning. Koizumi was as enigmatic and smiling as ever, Asahina-san did not show any particularly peculiar actions—instead, she was giving my eyes enough relaxation to make my trip to the SOS brigade seem worthwhile, Haruhi was as energetic—that would be an understatement, of course—as ever, and Nagato was—

As silent as ever.

Nearly a year passed since Nagato wreaked havoc by changing the world. An error—she had recounted as the reason behind her actions. An error.

What kind of a reason was that, Nagato Yuki?

There was no doubt that Nagato was the most unique individual that I had ever met–and considering my previous interpersonal relationships, that is something. It was a close competition between Haruhi, though.

I was confident, therefore, that I was probably the most competent in recognizing the minutest emotional differences of the humanoid interface. Yet—yet I could not even dare to fully grasp the complex changes taking place within her. Within the complex, organic clogs—hopefully flesh—there were silvers of emotions forming. She was opening up, slightly, like the glaciers melting and moving slowly to the coast.

She classified them as errors.

Should I correct her misconception? Am I being too interfering?

For numerous times, I had tried holding her hands and saying calmly that she was a human, a human being with emotions and love. However, every time, I failed when I was staring into her eyes.

I wanted her to realize it herself.

I wanted her to be the one to break out of her silent retreat.

For now, I wanted to merely observe her, to silently help her undergo such changes—a small help, compared to the help that the silent, introvert member of the SOS brigade has given to the brigade, yet help nonetheless.

As I was elaborating on my thoughts, I caught myself. I was talking too much.

Darn! I could see Koizumi's triumphant grin.

"But why?" he finally opened his mouth after hearing my lengthy confession. "Why do you want to help her so much? How could you justify your emotions?"

"Wasn't it obvious?" I sighed. "She is a member of the SOS brigade. As a fellow member, isn't it my duty to care for other members?"

Koizumi stared incredulously at me.

"Oh, is that so?"

Koizumi once again demonstrated his knack of showing his disbelief while acquiescing to my comment."

"Yes! You don't need to look that skeptical!" I yelled.

"Oh? Do I? I thought I managed to hide my emotions well," he ignored my anger and flourished his hands around. "Well, overall, the reason is plausible." He glanced at me, his face devoid of his customary smile. "Yet inadequate."

"Why so?" I slowly felt that this was turning into a lengthy debate to defend myself.

"Well, for starters, would you do the similar for me?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Sympathize me and personally engage with me? Try to find—I am using your metaphor—what is underneath my mask?" Koizumi smiled again.

That was quite appalling to even consider it.

"No."

"Ho? But aren't you doing the exact same thing to Nagato-san?"

I struggled to come up with an adequate response. Koizumi, though I hate to admit it, was a good debater.

"Well, at least fraternizing with you personally would be detrimental to the SOS brigade, though. You are the member of the Agency, after all. You do not need my sympathy."

"Well, I am hurt, I must admit," he smiled. Did he not know that saying that kind of statement with a smile reduces his credibility?

"But your arguments are rather faulty. Does Nagato-san need sympathy, then? She is a humanoid interface. She is supposed to be devoid of all emotions. Besides, wouldn't her being a completely emotionless being be more helpful to the brigade?"

"She is a human." I blandly stated the sentence that had been in my thoughts, slowly building up for a year.

"She is created as a humanoid interface," he ruthlessly continued.

"But she is a human. I mean—I want her to become a human."

I cringed as he smirked devilishly.

"That is why you were doing your best to stimulate emotions within her. But haven't you seen the drastic consequences of such errors? Come to think of it, it is nearly reaching a year since then."

"You are awfully set against her, though. She saved our lives when we were trapped in the mansion last year," I tried to divert the topic.

"Oh, we all are indebted to her. There is no doubt on that. And I haven't forgotten the promise that I made during the incident."

"But I am asking," his voice seemed sharper than usual. "Would your actions benefit Nagato-san? Would gaining emotions benefit Nagato-san?"

"What do you mean? Of course—"

"She will learn disappointment, pain, fear, and myriad other emotions that I could not possibly list. And don't even think about mentioning something in the lines of "she will learn happiness, love, or whatever."" He blocked my sentence before it even came out.

"Aren't you being rash?" He finally asked, abandoning his customary smile. His brows were shaping a frown, an expression that I had never seen him make.

I have no intention to be engaged in a rhetorical debate of no importance with myself. Being with Koizumi is a pain itself. I do not want to be tormented more. However—

I could not stop thinking about his words.

Koizumi and I soon returned to the clubroom, and Koizumi had remarkably regained his posture, and was smiling brightly at me.

"You two are late!" Haruhi frowned. That was incredibly unfair, considering that she did not set any time limits before we left.

"Stop complaining!" she severed my logic and grinned delightedly. "A fine!"

"We bought the food, you know."

My complaints were ignored, and a few minutes later, we were eating lunch, and I was forced to promise to treat everyone at the teashop for a week.

The weather outside was incredibly clear. It seemed nothing would ever go wrong—nothing unexpected would happen. Besides—

The sight of Nagato finishing her hamburger with her usual gusto seemed to prove that I was correct.

* * *

"Okay! We will meet tomorrow afternoon! Until then, rest well! You will need the strength!" 

It was already five o'clock when Haruhi finally dismissed us.

I was walking home alone. Much to my reluctance, I found myself contemplating on Koizumi's words.

Was I being too rash?

How could I know that Nagato wants to feel more emotions?

"Well, well," I sighed.

Why not ask her?

I instantly imagined the scenario that would unfold.

_"Nagato, I mean, um, yes. Would you like to feel more emotions?"_

The question itself sounded quite stupid.

_She would look blankly up at me, her purple hair in disarray. After blinking once, she would whisper, "—_

What would she whisper, anyway? Maybe it would be a long, rambling sentence using technical words that I could not possibly comprehend.

_"By using the geometric, arithmetic, harmonic inequality and the rearrangement inequality, we could prove, aided by Gauss' consecutive matrix, God's existence. Perhaps by using the counterargument, we could draw a graph that determines the principle functioning of—"_

I give up.

Or her answer might be incredibly short, demonstrating her taciturn aspect.

_"No." She would shut the door, leaving me alone in the cold._

That was quite depressing. Or she might acquiesce.

_"Yes." She would stare at me, her face lightly tinted with something resembling a light blush—_

Considering her current status, that was never going to happen. I imagined her face once more, and her quiet voice whispering, "Yes."

Then, what could I do? Were there any possible ways that I could ever improve her situation?

"Aargh." I squeezed my head.

I was slowly walking past the mansion that Nagato was living in.

Even though I hate to admit it, I could not do anything. I walked past.

Perhaps—I thought when I arrived at my home—it was best that we let things proceed slowly, naturally. Maybe Koizumi was right. Maybe I was being to rash about approaching this matter. Slowly, I hope, Nagato would show more human characteristics, and slowly, slowly—

Once again show the hesitant smile that she had shown in the world that she had once created.

* * *

_She was standing in the snow. This time, there was no wind. Snow fell undisturbed to the ground. She was wearing the familiar uniform of Kita High School._

_"Nagato!" I was shouting for no apparent reason. I felt detached—in fact, I was observing myself, too. Was I a spirit?_

_She was staring silently at my self. _

_"Nagato!"_

_Her lips were moving silently again, but this time, I heard strings of words._

_"—fists are clenched—"_

_I could hear the snowflakes rustling as it lands on the ground. _

_"—direct my gaze—"_

_I was seeing myself and Nagato staring at each other. I was currently making an unfathomable expression._

_"—to whom I—"_

_Suddenly, 'my' eyes widened._

_"and—whom—"_

_Her last words did not reach my ears, yet seemed to reach my other self._

_Suddenly, gales were blowing around the two, and I felt myself rising upwards and upwards……_

I woke up, breathing roughly. It was already eight.

I hurriedly prepared for school, and raced outside, complaining profusely about my alarm clock. I raced around the corner, reaching Nagato's mansion. If I ran, I could just make it—

I stopped.

The mansion that Nagato had lived was gone, and a railroad was running on where the building once stood. It can't be—It couldn't be—

She was gone.

* * *

Author's notes:

This is the beginning of the second part of the story. It is congruent-what had happened in the three chapters before actually happened in this part, too. It would be-approximately 4 months after the event in the snow took place.

I already finished planning the major plots, but haven't wrote them down yet. I don't know how long this would be.

P.S. I believe I would be writing this mostly on Kyon's perspectives, but I am considering to write a chapter or two on Nagato's perspective, too.

Enjoy reading, and please review!

-To Think, To Link, To Sing.


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